meet-and-greet | January 2016

[governors]

The Governors do this, sometimes; they hold a meet-and-greet for the new arrivals to help them get acclimated, and also to distract them from destroying their rooms. A message goes out to all the new arrivals informing them of a party with free food. Everyone likes free food, right?

In one of the recreation areas - sadly, not one of the ones accessible by slide - there are some chips, dip, some sodas and Solo cups, several large pizzas, and a surprising amount of Oreos.

Party.

Comments

[aquilawful]

Jack doesn't look very surprised, but that's mostly because his sanity meter is still set to 'no' about this whole situation in general. He's going to suspend both belief and disbelief until he's got more facts to deal with.

"Four," he echoes, eyebrows just barely raised. "Wow. I'll admit, I'm having trouble imagining that. But apparently we all got yanked from different universes, so I suppose it's not that much of a stretch. What do they all look like?"

Jack can make some educated guesses based on the groupings, but he's not exactly a big fan of fantasy.

[dragonaught]

"Well, there's different races between the species," Casey said. It was obvious, but the question made them realize perhaps Jack didn't understand. They were trying very hard not to think of it in a regular frame of reference. Everyone should know this. This was more than common knowledge, this simply was. They paused, breathing, trying to align themselves.

Just explain, don't think about how basic everything was. "For the amphibians, there's the kelpies, mermaids, nymphs and selkies, for the avians there's fairies, harpies and gryphons, humanoids are dwarves, elves, humans, orcs and trolls, and draconic races are demons, dragons, kirins, salamanders and yokai. They're all different."

[aquilawful]

Well. Apparently things could get more unbelievable than being transported to a different universe because your life apparently determined the fate of the world. Okay, maybe Casey's explanation wasn't that crazy, but still.

"Sounds like something out of a fantasy novel," Jack says without too much disbelief. "You must live a pretty interesting life, with all that variety."

[dragonaught]

Brows furrowing, Casey considered how to answer that. Their life had been anything but fantastic; in fact, it had been downright mundane up until very recently. A normal day job with school at night out of a small apartment with three-point-five pets. Just because there were people in it...?

"It wasn't fantasy," they said. There was no other way to reply. Maybe if they really didn't have anything but humans it would be strange. "It was... pretty normal, actually. I'm just a student."

[aquilawful]

"I guess it all depends on your perspective," Jack says with a shrug. "But I don't think any of us are 'just' anything."

Casey seems to frown quite a bit - they're very expressive in general, actually. No guile whatsoever. Interesting.

"What were you studying?"

[dragonaught]

"Guess that's true," they said slowly. That was the whole point of this thing, that some of them were special and some of them were strong enough to be protectors. It still wasn't sinking in, much like being a dragonaught was still not quite right in their head.

It was much harder to get a smile out of them. Guile had little place when one was still on the edge of an anxiety blow-up. Nothing they were hearing was very pleasing.

"Oh, uh, humanoid pharmacology." Something that required a lot of work and would likely pay well down the line, but didn't seem very impressive when they were really only just starting out on it.

[aquilawful]

"I have a feeling this place is going to give all of us a brand new look at the world," Jack muses almost absently. Maybe 'worlds' was more accurate, since they were all supposed to be from different universes. He's not entirely sure he likes the new perspective he's been given.

"Complicated stuff. You like taking care of people?"

[dragonaught]

"Definitely," said Casey with some wryness to their tone. It was already doing that, their footing anything but sure. Getting comfortable wasn't going to be easy, and they weren't even sure on the idea of trying yet.

Casey startled a bit at the question. It was an astute one, and they tilted their head in answer. "I guess so... it's not like being a doctor, though. Pharmacologists come up with medicine, not give out the treatments."

[aquilawful]

Jack didn't get this far without getting very good at reading people.

"It's still important, whether you're poking at people or not," he points out. "Doctors wouldn't have treatments to give if someone wasn't making the treatments."

[dragonaught]

Nodding, Casey had to admit defeat there. It was just a bit startling for someone to make the conclusion. Most people didn't bother actually going that far and realizing where the desire came from. Even if Casey couldn't do things up front and help people face to face... there was still a desire to be useful, to care, from behind the scenes.

"That's true," they said almost reluctantly. "I'm better at dealing with animals than people most of the time."

[aquilawful]

Jack fully understands operating in the background; it was how he made his living, after all. Casey's line of work is well-suited to their temperament, he notes.

"Animals are a lot less complicated. That makes it easier. You can learn how to get better at dealing with people, if you work at it," he advises.

[dragonaught]

Casey just gave half of a smile for the advice. They knew that much, and it wasn't as if they had been an antisocial child... just so much change in their life, and figuring themself out better, it all made it harder to be open and confident with people. Even still, it was less like living wrongly somehow; they just needed to find a new balance all over.

"Like a class?" they asked, more teasing than serious about that part. It was a good sign that their sense of humor was still there.

[aquilawful]

"That's one way," Jack chuckles, shaking his head. "But people-watching is cheaper. Theatre isn't a bad option either - I think they've got a library around here somewhere. Read a little Shakespeare," he suggests.

Not exactly standard CIA reading material, but it came in handy from time to time. Plus, it was guaranteed to never end up in Daniel's hands so it would stay his book.

[dragonaught]

"What's Shakespeare?" Probably not the best question to ask, but without the context the two didn't quite make sense. He mentioned theater, so... a screenwriter, perhaps? Still, a library could be good just to learn what kind of stories people from other worlds might make. That would be the chance of a lifetime.

[aquilawful]

That gets a full-on laugh out of Metcalfe - it's amazing how easy it is to forget that people are literally from different universes or realities or whatever.

"He's quite possibly the greatest playwright in the history of the English language, where I come from," he explains, shaking his head. "Strange guy, lots of mystery around him. Damn good writer, though. His characters are complex, like real people, only everything they say is written down so you can actually study them."